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“What our research shows is that in many areas this lifeline is dangerously close to disappearing."

According to the Campaign this is the second year in which bus services have seen dramatic cuts as part of the Government’s austerity programme.

Not only have 41 per cent of councils made cuts, but 10 per cent have slashed their budget by more than 10 per cent.

In all, the Campaign estimates, bus funding has been reduced by 16 per cent, with 62 per cent of councils in the East Midlands cutting their budgets.

“There has been a significant drop in bus funding outside London,” said Ralph Smyth, the Campaign to Protect Rural England’s transport campaigner.

“It is services at the margin which are being cut. So you can have a village which used to get two buses a week being reduced to one or even none.

“The problem is there is also salami slicing with more small cuts as council budgets come under ever-increasing pressure.”

Routes to have disappeared recently include Sunday services to Dorset’s Jurassic coast, the Northumberland village of Hadston being cut off and parts of Staffordshire losing buses after 7.30pm.

Council budgets have also been under pressure because of the national free off peak bus travel scheme for the elderly.

Last month the Local Government Association warned of a “financial time bomb” caused by a 27 per cent fall in Government support for the scheme between 2010 and 2015.

This has already led other bus services being cut such as cut price travel for students and schoolchildren in some cities.

However Michelle Mitchell, Charity Director General, Age UK, said the elderly were still suffering the brunt of the cuts, despite the free bus travel scheme.

“Last year nearly 10 million older and disabled people owned concessionary bus passes and made an average of 109 bus journeys a year.

“But there is little point in having a bus pass if there are no buses to use and it is it is extremely worrying to see that more than a third of local councils have together made £14 million of cuts to bus services this financial year on top of last year’s reductions.

“In some cases, routes have been cancelled altogether, leaving people stranded without affordable alternatives.”

Norman Baker, the local transport minister, defended the Government's record: “We accept that the overall funding settlement for local authorities is challenging but some councils are responding positively to this and finding more flexible and cost effective ways to meet passenger needs," he said.

"Bus patronage levels in rural areas are almost exactly the same as they were last year and the predicted collapse in passenger numbers has not happened."